CHRISTINE JACOBS ...continued

CALCULATED RISK

With a BS degree in medical technology, she spent her first 13 years of work as a laboratory technician and in management at an acute-care hospital in Columbus, Ohio. "I punched a time card until I was 34 years old," Jacobs said.

Then, growing discontent with the future of her job track Jacobs decided to quit her comfortable job in management, give up her retirement and health insurance benefits and take a $ 10,000 cut in pay to learn something new. She signed on with a British-owned company in Chicago that was seeking someone with her laboratory skills. In turn, the company agreed to equip her with business skills. From there, Jacobs joined an Atlanta company with a big dream but little else. During her 14 years at Theragenics, she has seen many of those dreams realized.

It turned out that Jacobs loved business, "It is invigorating and exciting and a thrill," she said. "I'm not motivated by the title or the position but rather by accomplishing something that has never been done before."

At the Robinson College of Business, Jacobs further cemented her preparation to become CEO of a major medical business enterprise by enrolling in the MBA program. "I found the finance and accounting programs to be of the greatest value to me:' she said. "Particularly I benefited from an understanding of decision science. As I calculate risk, it helps to understand the modeling, the theories and the assumptions that affect my decisions."

Jacobs can now speak the languages of medicine and business. That knowledge has taken her to a leadership position and made her one of only a handful of women to run publicly traded companies in Georgia. In addition to corporate duties, she serves as a member of McKesson/HBOC's board of directors and on the Atlanta Cardiovascular Research Institute's board as well. She is also a member of the Listed Company Advisory Committee to the NYSE, the board of councilors of the Carter Center in Atlanta, and the board of visitors for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Jacobs has returned to her alma mater to render service as a member on the Georgia State University Foundation and to be the keynote speaker at the university's May 2000 commencement exercises.

To all her activities, Jacobs brings a strong sense of purpose and a willingness to take calculated risks. As she said, "I have to run like the wind, know my industry and make mistakes because if I don't, I won't succeed."

By Rhonda Mullen